Duke, sputtering on offense, relied on its defense and Nolan Smith to beat Virginia for the seventh straight time.
Smith had 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists Wednesday night and led the fifth-ranked Blue Devils to a 56-41 victory.
Duke (24-2, 11-1) won its fifth straight overall, despite only two points from second-leading scorer Kyle Singler. The 56 points also were Duke's fewest this season.
"You know, points were hard to come by," said Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. "Their defense was good. I thought ours was a little bit better.
"Again, Nolan was a huge difference in the game. To get 22 points in a game like this is a lot of points. It's a lot of points."
Singler was in foul trouble for much of the game and didn't score his first basket until the 16-minute mark of the second half.
Krzyzewski lauded the defensive effort of sophomore big man Ryan Kelly, who also chipped in 11 points.
"They started the four perimeter guys and could really shoot the 3, and we had to have one of our big guys guard (Joe) Harris," he said. "And Ryan was on him most of the time, and I thought did a really, really nice job because he's a very good player, and our defense of the 3 was good."
Virginia was 3 of 12 from 3-point range. Mustapha Farrakhan led the Cavaliers with 11 points.
Duke took command early in the second half, building on an eight-point halftime lead by holding Virginia to one field goal over the first eight minutes.
Mason Plumlee drew an offensive foul on Harris on one end, then dunked on the other to put Duke up 41-30.
Duke held Virginia to 15 second-half points.
Virginia (12-13, 3-8) lost its third straight and fell below .500 for the first time this season.
"I'm frustrated because I feel like we're better than this," said Coach Tony Bennett of Virginia.
"I thought there was a large stretch in the second half where we got some pretty good looks, and the ball just wouldn't go in. You can't be in a game if you're shooting that percentage and struggling offensively like that."
The teams combined for seven turnovers before the first television timeout, and Virginia took a 12-7 lead on Farrakhan's fast-break layup.
Duke answered with a 15-5 run over the next six minutes.
Just before the half, Smith raced out in transition and converted a layup as he was being fouled by Sammy Zeglinski. While standing over Zeglinski, Smith did a little dance.
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